I am particularly grateful to Digital Jersey for hosting this event, and to all of you for coming to join us in discussing the way forward. This is why Economic Development created Digital Jersey and, I am in no doubt, it is working well.
Being given the chance to speak to you today is a rare pleasure because, as I’m sure you are aware, as Chief Minister, I rarely speak to an audience of technical experts – or perhaps more accurately I’m rarely allowed to!
So, why am I at this event organised by Digital Jersey and the eGovernment team?
Because, ladies and gentlemen, following sign off by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday of this week, today we move to implement phase of one of the fundamental building blocks of States reform and transformation, what we call eGovernment.
As we move into delivery mode, our objectives as government and yours as businesses in the digital sector are, I believe, perfectly aligned.
Digital Jersey
The Digital Jersey business plan establishes three high level, linked objectives:
- the growth and development of Jersey’s digital sector
- the development of a digital economy
- the creation of a true digitally enabled society with all the benefits that will bring to businesses and the people of Jersey
Government’s role in achieving these objectives is many fold, but the inescapable truth is that the States are the largest customer of digital services in Jersey by far.
Of course the inconvenient truth is that today we transact about 7% of our customer interactions using digital channels. Within four years I want to see that increase by a factor of ten.
Achieving this will present many in this room with an opportunity that has the potential to affect the growth and development of Jersey’s digital sector.
As government, together with Digital Jersey, we have a responsibility to support the growth and diversification of Jersey’s economy and I can think of no better way than engaging the digital sector in the transformation of government services.
Is this “business as usual” or “more of the same”?
No!
Enterprise model
Delivery of eGovernment will result in the creation of a new enterprise model for service provision that, over time, will replace the long-standing, departmentallybased delivery model. We inherited that model from a time before today's technology existed and it is time to move on, leverage modern technology and create eGovernment as a reality that “does what it says on the tin”.
Of course, eGovernment is not just about delivering technology change, indeed the approach we will lay out today has been deployed elsewhere, mainly in large jurisdictions, where incidentally departmental boundaries still get in the way of truly effective customer service.
We are different because, working together, we can develop a genuine “whole government” model that brings government and its customers together as never before.
I am under no illusion that to be successful we must change our way of working with the digital sector as an intelligent customer, bringing together departments' requirements into a single point of contact with the supplier community. A very different approach to the one you, and we, are used to.
Procurement
We also want to change our approach to procurement. One of the main purposes of today is to signal that change. And we want to change the culture of the States organisation.
I am committed to ensuring that in the weeks and months to come, we will do all three.
We must achieve this to deliver services for our customers; online, by mobile, tablet or the next technology in a cost-effective and sustainable manner through a single portal. We will be faster and more responsive to Islanders’ needs. And we will deliver value for money for taxpayers.
So what does this all mean for you and, more importantly, what is in it for you?
You have already heard how Digital Jersey thinks we should be working with the local digital industry. As government, we are committed to build on that dialogue.
We recognise the industry would like to see a more collaborative, partnering process and today signals the start of a new way of working that will deliver that very outcome.
I know that there is a perception in some quarters that the States favour off-island suppliers. I understand that suggestion but we must be honest with each other and recognise that alliances between on and off-island businesses can be beneficial to us all.
Off-island businesses can have greater capacity and experience of working with large complex organisations, all of which can be useful in improving the development of our digital sector – a sector that will, if we get this right, contribute to the long term provision of skills and job opportunities for islanders.
Clearly there is a balance to be struck between opting for the cheapest solution, and choosing a solution that enables our local supply chain to learn, develop and grow, through skills and knowledge transfer. That balance must be struck.
Vision
Just imagine, if we work together and deliver the “whole government” solution, we will have a product that can be exported to other small independent jurisdictions and perhaps even upscaled to export to larger ones. But most importantly it will be better for Islanders.
We must to do this together. I hope you are all ready to participate, because we are.
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